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VETERAN AND VINTAGE ~

MDTDIUN'g I -~ .:l(f

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ROLlS-ROYCE LTD

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ROLLS-RG Ij.

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Whether VETERAN. EDWARDIAN. VINTAGE or MODERN­

they all need

Tile LESCOPOUR-A-CAN

Stand 11 Up or Lay 11 Flat11 Will Not Leak or Smell

Availab le from Your Garage orService Statio n.

Ma nu fa ctu red under ALLB OY Licence by

SOUT HWA RD ENGINEERING CO. LTD .Seaview, Lower Hutt.

W. A. CLAPHAM29 SOUTHWARK STREET CHRISTCHURCH

Between Man chester and Madras Streets, alongside Cokers Hotel.

Phone 77·471

Canterbury Service for

AUTOELECTRICIAN

ChristchurchDistributors ofA.B. Batteries

Beaded Wh eels is th e voice of th e Vintage Car Mo vement in New Ze aland and of th e Clubs w hose effortsare fos tering and eve r w ide ning th e interes t in this m ovem ent and form rallying points for that eve r increas­ing band of enthusiasts. Th e fascinat ion of age itself or revuls ion from th e flash y m ediocrity of our presentday is drawing an increasing nu mber of m ot orists ba ck to the indi viduality, solid wor th, and fun ct ionalelegance that was demanded by a m ore d iscrim inating generation and it is to these that we dedicate-

BEADED W1EiEEJLS

COVER PICTURE:Clapham's immaculate 1920 Stanleyon a "Sunday Drive." (See Road

Test.)Ph ot o by courtesy E. Sarg inson.

Bead ed Wheels is Publi shedQuarterly by the

VI NT AGE CAR CLUB OF N.Z. I NC .20 HACKTHORNE ROAD

CH RIST CH URCH, S.2, NEW ZE ALAND .

-*-Yearly Subscription 10/- post free.

-*-Individual copies 2/6 each.

-*-Ed itor: Mrs M. J. ANDERSON.

-*-Assistan t Editor : R. PORTER .

Andersons Line , Carterton.

-*-Co py must be typed on one side of paperand sent to the Editor, 20 H ackth orn e

Road, Christchurch.

-*-COpy MARCH ISSUE CLOSES

FEBRUARY 15th. 1960.

How many read ers paid any attention to thenews from the Bay of Plenty Branch of the Club onpages 28 and 29 of the Sept ember, 1959 , issue ofBeaded Wheels?

The news from the Bay sounded a note of warn­ing about a stat e of affairs which gravely conce rnsall of us. Pre cious parts are daily being taken fromunder our very noses by people as unsuspecting asthey are careless of the fate of articles which to us areof very great valu e.

It is more than heartening to learn that oursmallest branch is so well aware of the problem andis obviously takin g active steps to save what it ca nfrom the wreckers and scrap merchants. To organisea "scrap watching party" throughout all branches ofthe Club is an almost impossible task. This job mustbe left to those members who have the time andknowledge to devote to it. The grea test problemconfronting us is wh at to do with articles when theyhave been found or retrieved from the hands of thewreckers. M any members must have among theirpossessions, parts which are of no immediat e valueto them but which have been rescued because of theconscientiousness of the member concerned.

This problem has exercised the minds of someof the Executive for some time. Also, should theClub organise some sort of register of parts and setup some sort of exchange system for parts amongmembers?

Another problem whi ch must be faced in thevery near future is that of dealing with known col­lections of parts which are in the hands of non­members. Very often these collections are held byelderly gentlemen and are the result of a lifetime ofcolleting and buying with no particular end or pur­pose in view. Often these collections can yield valu­able parts to members but again very oft en th eir exist­ence is known to only a few people and the grea testproblem is to preserve them from the hands of th escrap metal dealer once the owner departs this lifeand his possessions are disposed of by some conscient i­ous trustee who, in all probability, has never heard of

1

DECEMBER, 1959

IN THIS ISSUE

Editorial Page 1Northern Natter " 2Road Test No. 20 " 4Standard of the World (Part 3)" 7Vintage and Veteran Motor-

Cycle Notes 11Vauxhall (Part 1) " 13Camera Review ]6, ] 7Waikato Notes " ]9Book Reviews " 20Canterbury Notes " 2]Southland Notes " 22Wellington Notes " 25Hawkes Bay Breaks its Silence" 24General Notes " 27Bay Banter " 28Photo Quiz " 29Restoration Technique " 30Classified Advertisements ,,32

VOL. v, No. 20

this Club. Would it be asking too much ofthose members who know of such collectionsto notify eith er Branch Secretaries or theNat ional Secre tary so that some steps can betak en eith er to acquire them or at least makeknown to the owner the existence of the Cluband the fact that many of the parts mayaga in be put to good use in the hands ofmembers . It is one thing to find parts, an­othe r to preserve them and save th em fromdestruction but yet ano ther, and proba bly thegreatest probl em, to direct th em to the mem­bers who need th em. Would it be possiblefor branches to have an an nual " br ing andbuy" or " meet and swa p" day solely for thispur pose?

O ne does not need to look very far abroa dto see and find evidence of valuable partsbeing put to use in all manner of ways; in arecent issue of a well known women's maga-

Northern Natter

zinc menti on was made of a family living ina houseboat pow ered by two mot ors-s-a 1:JI0Rolls-Royce and a 1911 Napi er-both ingood order, whil st an observant member re­cen tly saw a North Ca nterbury green groce rdrawin g his wares on a trailer whi ch sportedthe name "Napier" on th e hu b caps and dis­played und ern eath an obviously veteran dif­ferenti al housing. Who wants for exa mpleth e three items just mentioned ; even suppos­ing they could be acquired, wh at memberwould pay even a reasonable sum for them ?Yet what is their fat e if some effort is notmade to acquire and preserve them. Who ina few years time might say, " If only I hadth at R olls-Roy ce engine or Napier diffy Icould complete my ca r."

These a re th e pr oblems th e Club nowfaces. Wh at do YOU conside r the Clubshould do about them.

by Ausbent

Auckland Veteran & Vintage Car Club ( Inc.)President: R. Cope. Hon. Secretary: N. C. Adams

Auckland Editor: N. C. Adams, 66 Wairoa Ro ad, Devonp ort , Auckland.

T o witness a turnout of no less th an 24vehicles in tip top orde r at the first big eventof the season is really qu ite something andaugers well for our summer prog ramme. T eAroha was the spot to wh ich we rallied onthis occasion, a weekend affair, commencingon the Saturday with a tim ed trial, followedby a well orga nised Gymkhana on arriva l andending in th e evening with a most pleasantlittl e party. Prizes for th e run and the Gym­khana were very kindly donated by th e J ay­cees, who were our hosts for the occasion.

Su nday mornin g, aft er a litt le impromptunoggin and natter outside the local ga rage,the ea rs de pa rted on th eir way in little groups,mostly bound for home, but a few to pro ceedeven further a field in search of vetera ns andspare parts. Your scribe and his wife com­pet ed th is tim e in their litt le 1929 Austin 7Chummy, a very different kettl e of fish fromthe large old Sunbeam saloon that th ey usedto flit round in. It is worth putting on recordthat wh en pr operly restored these sma ll ca rsare ca pable of makin g long jou rneys at anastonishingly high speed for their age andsize and furtherm ore th ey are very far fromlacking in comfort . W e travelled home in

company with a certa in vene rable Sunbeam14/ 40 and, as is usually the case being thesmaller ca r, we did the pilotin g. On arrivalat one of the many one way bridges en route,we took temporary fright at the sight of amotorcycle hurtling towards us and also acar at the other end th at ap peared to be trav­elling impossibl y fast to stop . Without think­ing we trod heavily on th e diminuti ve b ra kepedal and skidded proudly to a halt. Scenetw o opens t'other side of the b ridge, wh ere lietwo vintage cars, neatly park ed by the road­side, their crews deftl y kicking ou t the oddwing dents. M eanwhile the respect ive own­ers, one clad in a neat little black Frenchberet (with tuft ) and th e other adorne d by apeaked hat of the invert ed jam-tart va riety,were busily shaking fists in eac h other's facesand exchanging niceties in several ton gues.Now th e upshot of all this argument comes inscene three (several days lat er ) when theAustin Seven's owner is sitt ing by his fireside,his eyes aglow with pr ide for he hold s in hishands th e coveted trophy, that ra rest gem ofall, the littl e red rear " four wheel br ake"danger triangle. How nice of the proud Sun­beam owner to remove it from his own car

"Pri ;;t ed

an d present it to th e little Aust in Ch ummyin acknowledge ment of its remarkable stop­ping power. O ne supposes th at it was quiteby accident that th e lette ring had got itselfall mix ed up and th e little red triangle nowread " PO O R SQ U EAL FAKES"! Brak ersbeware, the Club now has an important newT rophy to be awarded at Gymkhanas!

U p our end of th ese Islan ds we have justheld our Annua l General M eet ing, with th eusual result th at th ose who nour ish secre thop es of being able to give up homework andpass the bu ck, are left fondl ing an ever­growing bab y. A few others who may havethought th emselves safe ha ve been neatlynett ed and they, too, can now enj oy some nicechee rful slavery. The Annual R eport reveal­ed a stea dy progress, a further acc umula tionof funds and promise of a good yea r to come.

The A.G.M. brings one awfu lly imp ortanttho ught to mind. T oo often a handful ofoverworked enthusiasts a re for ced repeated lyto hold th e same office, for no other reasonth an th at there appears to be no one elseeither sufficiently willing or capable to takethe job on. The rem edy for th is lies in th ehands of every sing le member. It is not suffi­cient from time to tim e to enroll as membersonly the odd friend who seems sligh tly inter­ested or som eon e else who uses an old ca rto go to work , etc. ' ''' e must all of us do ourut most to interest very many more persons ofth e type th at possess adminis trative exp eri­ence and an int elligent desire to give up a lotof spare tim e in order to work for and fosterthe V . & V . movement. H ow man ybranches, one wonders, could supply at amoment's noti ce a second team of membersto take over the all important fun ctions ofcha irman, secreta ry, club ca pta in, and treas­urer? And yet a club to be of any worth atall must be capable of rising to such anoccasion .

I t is very pleasin g to be ab le to recordth at within our area th ere are mo re restora­tions than ever in han d . Without thinkingdesp erately hard , one can make a note of aTalbot or two, several Austins, a two- cyl,191 2 Delage, three Bentleys, th ree Sunbeams,one Cadillac , one V auxhall 14/40, the oddRo ver, a wee Calcott an d some Fords. Inth e not too distant fut ur e theref ore we shou ld

3

have a lot of new stuff to delight the eye.Let us hope that none of the old faith fuIs willbe allowed to glimme r less brig htly. Let themin fa ct be brightened an ew in order to com ­pete with the lat est restorations.

It may come as some thing of a surprise tosome of ou r regul ar readers to learn th at in­stea d of holding th e club's main weekendra lly to R otorua, we are thi s year to go toT auran ga a t the Anniversary Weekend . W eare sor ry to leave out R otor ua as we havesuch pleasant mem ories of happy weekendsthere in the past. H owever we hope to re­turn there perh aps another yea r. This tim ewe are counting upon th e ab le assistan ce ofth e Bay of Plenty Branch of th e N.Z. Vi ntageCar Club and it is hoped that in return theBay of Plenty folk will benefit from the pub­licity in their area th us afforded and the oddshekle or two may be induced thereby toflow into ou r respect ive coffers .

In closing the writ er wishes, on behalf ofeveryone, to welcome back to the Commit­tee, M r H orace R obinson who is the club'sfounder and who has been out of the coun­try for a while. Also elect ed to the Co mmit­tee are M r H arold Denton (the shiney M oonfiend ) and our intrep id tri ck cyclist M rGeo rge Woodwa rd who will help to pro moteth e two wh eeled side of things.

WANTED TO BUYBack numbers of "Beaded Wheels" ingood condition. 2/ - per copy . Pl easecontact the Secre tary, P .O. Box 2546,Chr istchurch,

FOR SALETh e foll owin g ba ck numb ers are now avai la blea t 3/- pe r copy .September 1955 - 5 Copies Cvcl ostyledMarch 1956 - 18 "Se ptembe r 1956 - 18 "June 1957 - 37December 1957 - 15Se ptember 1958 - 18December 1958 - 40March 1959 - 3 "

To ens ure immediate delivery of YOURmagazine please inform this office ofany add ress changes. Club membersPLEASE NOTE th a t as well as inform­ing their Branch Secret ar y, they mu stalso inform this office.

ROAD TEST No. 201920 STANLEY 20 H.P. TOURING CAR

Owing to th e length of th is Road T est we havedecid ed to present it in two pa rts. W e feel that th esub j ect matt er is of suc h great interest it would bea grave mistak e on our part to attempt to redu ceMr Turnbull's magnum opus.

Historical: It is to the twin brothers F. E.and F. O. Stanley of Newton, Mass achusetts,U .S.A ., that we are indebted for what mustbe the most famous and certainly the mostcommercially successful steam cars .

The prototype ma chine was built in 1897by th e brothers, who were already in busin essmanufacturing photographic plates, and cre­ated so mu ch int erest that others like it meta ready sale . Plans were laid late in 1898 .fora production run of 200 cars, these beingcompleted by mid 1899 but under the nameof th e Locomobile Co. of America to whomthe business had been sold.

In 1901 Stanleys form ed the StanleyMotor Carriage Co . and restarted manufac­turing, the Locomobile Co. turning to i.c.engined vehicles, later achi eving considerablesuccess in American motor racing. Variousimprovements were incorporated in th.e St~n­

ley designs, mainly increasing the boiler sizeto 16in diameter and later removing it fromunder the driver's seat to the front of thewood en chassis until late in 1905 they wereable to produce the most astonishing vehicl eyet to emerge from their factory, a raci!1gmachine with a 30-inch boiler and two cylin­der 4 Y2in x 6Y2in engine geared to run atless than 3/5 rear axle speed. Boiler oper­ating pressure was 1000lb/in2, a stream-linedbod y of low frontal area was used and steer­ing was by tiller.

In Jan uary, 1906, at Ormond Beach,Florida, this car did a kilometer in 18 2-5thseconds and one mile in 28 l-Sth seconds atspeeds of 121.7 and 127.6 m.p .h. respectively,a sobering thought especially when one re­members the tiller steering.

Other developments wer e the MountainWagon, an omnibus using a similar powf'rplant to that of the Florida racer, designedspecially for passenger and goods carriage inhilly country, and the Gentleman's SpeedyRoadster, a light sporting two-seater.

These cars were all non-condensing modelsbut by 1915 a condensing model was in pro-

4

by W. S. Turnbull

duetion in whi ch the exhaust steam from theengine was condensed in a Vee radiator notunlike that on contemporary Oak1ands, andthe water returned to the tank to give a rangeof 150-200 miles instead of the earli er onemile per gallon of water.

In 1918 F. E. Stanley was fatally injuredin a motor accident and F. O . left the busi­ness although th e firm continued building thecondensing model cars until decreasing salesforced the company to close down in 1925 .

The car tested is a 1920 model 735A, 4seater Stanley tourer owned by Bill Claphamof Christchurch who purchased it in 1956partly dismantled, with a defective boiler,and somewhat weather-beaten extern ally dueto standing in a semi-open shed . It has hadall the usual restoration work such as repaint,new hood and side curtains, a set of new 35inx 5in tyres imported along with the accom­panying financial set back, from the UnitedStates. There were however, special prob­lems such as retubing the boiler upon whichaccurate information is difficult to obtain inthis i.c, engined age. All of the 637 firetubes had to be removed from the boiler shell,new ones cut from specially imported stain­less steel tubing, welded into the lower tubeplate and expanded into the upper plate.Finally the three layers of high tensile steelpiano wire reinforcing the shell had to bewound on under tension . Using normalworkshop equipment Bill and his helperswere able to satisfactorily recondition theboiler, even making up a device to ensurecorrect tensioning during the final wire wind­ing operation. The engine also called forrenewal of the piston rings and trueing upthe slide-valve faces, and the pumps, auto­matic controls and allied equipment were alldismantled to determine their functions,cleaned and checked before reassembly.

To date the Stanley has run almost 3000miles in Bill's hands, the longest run beingto Picton for the first National Rally. Fewof these trips have been without incident,but as he points out the only way to overcometroubles is to experience them and profit bythe experience. So far the same trouble hasnot occurred twice.

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R.H. front seat. All are plunger type drivenat quarter engine by a long connecting rodfrom a small crank geared to the R.H. axleshaft. The !'Bin diameter plunger of the oilpump injects oil into the steam line using agallon every 300 miles, and the fuel pumpmaintains 100Ib/in2 pressure in the two smalltanks under the front seat from which kero­sene is fed to the main burner through asteam pressure controlled automatic valvewhich shuts off all fuel at a boiler pressureof 600Ib'in2

• Kerosene not required by theburner is by-passed back to the 14 gallontank at the rear.

The water pump is also working con­tinuously, water going into the boiler whenan automatic by-pass valve closes due to thefalling water level exposing the expansion rodcontrolling it to high temperature steam.There is a hand pump for emergency useor if required when starting up. Anotherexpansion rod operated valve shuts off thefuel supply should the water level becomedangerously low.

The condenser which is the main distinc­tion between this model and the earlier pre­war cars is a radiator of conventional appear­ance into which exhaust steam from theengine passes. Normally in steam power plantsthe condenser is used to obtain a lower-than­atmospheric exhaust pressure but here it isused merely to increase the water mileageand any steam not condensed is dischargedunder the car.

A feed water heater which for some reasonwas standard equipment on the earlier cars,but not the 1920 model, was added by Bill totransfer some heat from the exhaust steam tothe cold water being pumped into the boiler.

The coachwork on the Stanley is a 4-5seater body narrower and much less bulkythan usually fitted to chassis of this size. Asmall boot at the rear, housing a tool locker

As to most of us internal combustion en­gines are well known, but steam practice per­haps less, so a brief description of the Stanleypower unit is perhaps appropriate here.

The engine is a double acting two cylin­der mounted in unit with the rear axle casingand driving from a spur gear on the crankshaft directly to a similar gear, enclosing a3 bevel differential, which replaces the usualcrown wheel. Two slide valves working ina common steam chest between the cylindersare operated by Stephenson type link motion,their steam cut off point being controlled bya pedal replacing the normal clutch pedal,which also gives a reverse gear by reversingthe engine. The variable cut off permitsmore economical running when less thanmaximum power is required for on early cutoff steam is admitted only during a shortperiod at the beginning of the stroke. Thefront of the engine is hung by a laminatedsteel strap from a chassis cross member andst~am is supplied to it via a swivel jointedpIpe.

The steam generator, mounted underthe bonnet where one normally expectsto find an engine is virtually a steel shell 23indiameter and 14in deep with practically theentire end surfaces taken up by the 637 verti­cal tubes which carry the hot flue gases fromthe burner underneath to the smoke box ontop. These tubes contribute immensely tothe heating surface area.

The burner is rather like a gigantic Primusstove burner 23in across having 4345 holes.052in diameter drilled in its upper surface.A mixture of air and kerosene vapour fromthe vapourising coil is fed through these andburns with an intense smokeless flame. Theboiler normally runs two -thirds full of waterand steam passes first to the throttle super­heater coil directly above the burner. Evenwhen the main burner is not in use a separ­ate small pilot burner using white spirit asfuel maintains pressure at 200Ib/in2 whenthe car is standing, also keeping the mainburner vapouriser coil hot to ensure the firewill start when kerosene is supplied to it.A boiler safety valve set at approx. 1000Ib/in2

is fitted .

The fuel and water pumps inseparablefrom any steam generator are housed, to­gether with the oil pump, in a pit under the

5

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adds length. A sharp edge following rear­wards as a continuation of the bonnet cornerline gives a square-cut appearance and thebody sides are not particularly high but thewhole chassis is set high off the ground onfull ellipti c springs at the rear and half ellip­tics at the front. This combined with thelarge 35in x 5in Hayes Demountable Wire'Wheels, the quite close fitting, slightly domedguards, the broad radiator at the front andthe spare wheel looking huge in its leather­ette cover mounted verti cally at the rear addsup to a most impressive-looking mot or ca r.All panel work and wheels are a maroonshade with black undergear and hood, blackhood bows and nickel fittings. There is aneat " Caution Left H and Drive" noti ce fittedat the rear. Other points to be noted are thehose with strainer fitted for drawing waterfrom ponds, horsetroughs, etc., which slidesin under the R.H. valance, and the two longwood en poles connecting the front and rearaxles to act as radius rods and locate therear axle , pr eventing excessive flexing of thesteam pip e. When sitting behind the wheelthe instruments an d minor con trols one has tohand are, sta rting from th e left , light switches,main fire cut off, boiler pressure gauge, oilflow indicat or, a duplex gauge showin g bothmain and pilot fuel pressures, speedo, clockand ammeter, and on the steering column,

View of Stanlcv en gi ne [rn m above . Showing mai n bearing,eccentrics, link mo tio n, baffl e -pt a n.. ."hookin g-up" device. "l'hcre

. arc but rhirtcc n mcvmg pa rt s In the St anley e ngine .

6

Side view of St a nlev e ngi nc . sho « ing connecting-ro d and bea r­ing , with cuu ntcrb ala nce . stea m ches t cover , and exha ust ou t­let . The St a nley en gin e is more completely a roll er-bear in g

e ngine tha n any o the r en gine use d I n an autom ob ile .

the throttle lever. Under the dash boardthere are hand valves to flood the main burn­er with petr ol for starting and for the waterpump by-pass. On the floor are the water tankga uges and the ingenious boiler water levelgauge in which a float moved magnet im­mersed in high pr essure wat er, by ma gn etismthrough a sealed brass plate, makes the gaugeneedle move in unison with the float.

There are other gauges and controls scat­tered at unexpected points about the vehiclewhile under the bonnet there is the boilerwith all those copper pipes, valves and polish ­ed gunmetal fittings one associates with awell-kept boiler room .

Brief Specification:Model number 735A.Serial number 20,09 1.Maker's H.P. rating-20 H.P.Engine-2 cylind er 4in bore x 5in stroke.Wheel base-1 0ft lOin.Track-4ft 9in.Ground clearance-s-Hl ye in .Overall length-14ft 11in,Tyre size- 35in x 5in .Weight- 36cwt.M ain fuel tank-14 gallons.Pilot fuel tank-2 gallons.Water tank-25 ga llons.

Standard of the WorldMr Gerald Nairn, now Iivinz in retire­

ment, but still an active driver (he at pres­ent owns a Judson-blown Volkswagen andonly recently sold the second of his two Mer­cedes 300's) remembers his Cadillacs of 35years ago with the greatest affection. MrNairn, of course, with his brother Normanran the famous desert service in Syria be­tween Damascus and Bagdad. The brotherswere born in Blenheim where they ran amotor-cycle business prior to the First WorldWar. Enlisting, they served in the MiddleEast during the war and decided to go intobusiness there after the Armistice. Aftermaking money from the sale of Army surpluscars in Beirut they began importing cars fromEgypt and then began a Beirut-Haifa ser­vice. A year later in April 1923, they made atrip from Damascus to Bagdad in two and ahalf days, with two Buicks and a Lancia andde cided to start a service between the citieswhich would reduce the time for a journeyfrom Bagdad to Europe from weeks to days.

Six new Type 63 Cadillacs joined theBuicks, the service starting in late 1923. (TheLancia was later sold.) The Cadillacs wereseven-seater tourers, similar in appearance to

PART THREEby M. D. Hendry

Hubert Turtill's 61 described in the Septem­ber 1956 Beaded Wheels, and differing main­ly from that model in having the optionaldisc wheels, a longer body, front wheel brakesand the counter-balanced 90 deg. crankshaft.

The centre seats of these cars were replac­ed by a 16 gallon water tank and a 20 gallongas tank was mounted on each runningboard, linked by a three-way cock to an Auto­pulse pump. In this form they carried thedriver, three passengers, and mail bags andbaggage loaded on running boards, mud­guards and bonnet. Rations for a week werealways taken-two kerosene tins full, and theextra petrol enabled the cars to go rightthrough without refuelling.

The run of 550 miles between Damascusand Bagdad took a total time of 24 hourswhen there were no incidents. At first Arabcamel drivers went along as guides, beingseated beside the driver with the three pas­sengers in the rear. The guides were suppliedby a shiek who had been running a camelconvoy over the same route and had agreedto guarantee the Nairns security for £2000in gold annually. The transition from camelsto Cadillacs however, was too much for the

"-, ROUTES OF NAIRN

TRANSPORT CQ

o 10 40 GlI so 100 MILES

\I THE CADILLAC REPLACES THE CAMEL 11

guides, who found that the desert lookeddifferent at 50 or 60 miles an hour. Fromthen on, the Nairn cars were driven by com­pass, and subject to raids by the Arabs, arm­ed with rifles. Sometimes the cars would gethome with bullet holes through the radiatortemporarily plugged up , while on oth er occa­sions two Buicks were stolen, the drivers andmail being left in the desert. As a crowninginsult the Arabs later made raids with thesame cars, which were never recovered. Theonly death occurred in 1925 during the Druserebellion, when a driv er was shot. (T heDruses, a centra l Syrian people, revolted un­successfull y against the French, who hadtaken over Syria from the defeated Turksafter the First World War. )

" We carried rifles ourselv es. We never in­dulged in gun battles because of the passen­gers," said Mr Nairn. "Fortunately theynever captured a Cadillac, but after a fren chescort accompanying us was shot up, wewere given permission to go after them, arm­ed . We ran them down in a couple of Cadil­lacs. They jumped off their winded camelsand took off on foot , and when their ammo'ran out they surrendered. They gave us theirknives to cut th eir throats, but we took theminto Damascus, handed them over to theFrench and saw th em publicly hanged ."

"At one stage th e French had to close theroute because of the trouble, but th ey were

very good to us all the time In Syria. ""Originally the cars started about five in

the morning, drove all day and parked up forthe night, continuing ea rly next morning . Asthe tracks became established and the drivergot to know the route this schedule was re­versed, th e cars starting about 3 or 4 p.rn.and driving through the night. Thus we didmost of our driving in cooler temp eratures,which was easier on tyres, driver and passen­gers and used less petrol."

The cars travelled in strung-out convoyformation , and at night the leading carwould, at regul ar intervals turn back until theheadlights of the next car were seen, turnagain and continue its original course. Thesecond ca r would repeat this check on thethird car, and so on down the line. "On oneoccasion," recalled Mr Nairn, " we were un­able to locate the second car for some time,and we then saw headlights circling in thedistance in an odd manner. D riving up, wefound the Cad turning circles with the driverand passengers fast asleep , and only aft ermuch shouting and horn-blowing we wereable to wake them."

The Nairn driv ers were more familiarwith Gilhooleys than Gilhooley him self."About 30 miles out of Damascus and againbetwe en Rutbah and Ramadi (about 250miles from Bagdad ) were vast mud flatswhich in the summer were as smooth as a

Photo by courtesy Mr G. Nairn.

One of the new Cadillac cars about to leave Beirut for Bagdad. ]. R eid at the wheel andGeralq Nairn on the right. On the bonnet in both Arabic and English are the words,

"Nairn Transport CQ. Ov erland Desert Mail. Bagdad-Beirut."

!3

billiard tabl e, with a thin film of dust on thetop . The ga zelles roa ming the flats invari ­ably ran across the path of anything ap­proaching . Dri vers swing to avo id th em andthe surface after light rain was so greasy th atthree and a half tons of lad en Cadillac wouldthen turn end-for-end 50 or 60 times from 60miles an hou r before the dri ver could get oncourse again . Looking back, he wou ld findhis passengers still sitti ng wit h their mo uthswide open in astonishment." H eavy rai n in­volved a 150 mile detou r th rough M afrak.

" Weather perm itting, the ca rs kept tightschedules. At some pla ces clocks were sup­posed to be set by our arr iva l," continued MrNairn . " O n one occas ion an Anglo-I rani anOil Co mpa ny official offered us double ournormal fee for a ca r if we could get him toBeirut in time to ca tch a steame r, and noth­ing if we missed it. Norman and J ack Reiddrove, takin g extra gas and giving the passen­ger an empty petrol can for ca lls of nature.This trip involved an extra 65 miles and aclimb of 5000 feet through the Leban onRange but the Ca dillac cut out the 615 milesin 15 hours an d we got our two hundred quidfare."

Mr Nairn himself la ter cut the time to 13hours, an d once drove a Cadillac from Beirutto Bagd ad and retu rn-1230 miles- in 48hours with out a relief driver or sleep.

On anothe r occasion M r Nairn left Rut­bah at th e same tim e as an Imperial Airwaysairl iner was taking off after refuelling.

"A head wind held him back," smiled M rNa irn, "and th e Cadiliac ou tpaced him toan LP .C. station about 65 miles away."

"T he Cadillacs were good jobs to drive,alth ough the steering was heavy- veryfast with only two turns of a very good lockand on top of th at th ey were very heavilyloaded at betwe en 3 and 4 tons. H owever,this didn't matter mu ch as most of it wasstraight line work."

"T hey had plenty of power, a very smoo thengine and would do about 70 miles an hour,which was not slow in 1923. They did from12 to 14 miles to the ga llon in service, which,considering the conditions, was quite acce pt­ab le. Their abili ty to take punishment wasjust amazing, and not hing I have seen sincesurpasses them in th at. "

"Cadillac put out a beautifully p reparedbooklet in colour describin g our run, but un-

9

fortunat ely I don 't th ink I have a copy now.It was titl ed, "T he Ca dillac replaces th eCa mel."

I n Syria operating conditions were ofcourse, exceptionally severe. " In the sum mertemperatures were sometimes so high ( 123degrees ) th at th e tu bes would vulcanise th em­selves to the tyres an d I have actua lly seentyres catch fire. Dri vers had to change tyreswith gloves on . I n the win ter we wouldoften bog down to th e axles in mud . T hedrill was then for everybody to get out in­cluding the dri ver who would tie th e throttl ewide open. We might heave and push likethat, with breaks, for up to 30 miles with thecar flat out in low gear most of th e time. Inspite of all th at , we never once boiled a Cadil­lac. Their cooling systems were excellent,parti cularl y the radi ator, which was a beau­tiful job . All you did was to keep themflushed ."

"Despite using up to 10 different tr acks wewould sometimes bog down so badly we hadto wait up to two days for th e mud to dryenough for us to get going agai n, yet th erewere du st storms which lasted 6 to 8 hou rsan d reduced visibility to 10 feet, ma king itnecessa ry for someone to stand on the frontbumper and dir ect the dr iver in summe r."

Aft er the Druse rebellion a new route,Beiru t-H aifa-Jeru salem -D ead Sea - Amman­R utb ah-Bagdad , a distance of 750 miles, wastaken and this invo lved crossing several lavabeds up to five miles wide strew n with largebould ers too close togeth er to be avoided. " I twas just bump-bump over th at for m iles onend," sa id Mr Nairn , showing ph otogr aphsof what looked like a riverbed. "T his wasthe only time we had structural tr ouble, aseventua lly most of the chassis fr am es devel­oped cracks near th e front axle. We alsobroke springs and cracked severa l radi at ors.H owever, under those conditions most motor­cars would have simply ceased to exist. Wereinforced the chassis by weld ing extra anglesection steel inside the fram e cha nnels, andalso took the pr ecaution of weld ing a rib onthe bottom of the banjo housing. We alsoroped up the springs so th at if one did breakwe could still get home. T yres on ly lasteda couple of trips. The lava beds were situ­ated between Amman and Ru tbah."

"S ix to eight months lat er we cha nged toBeirut-Homs-P alm yra-Rutbah-B agd ad , whi ch

Photo by court c...y Mr G . N airn .

Mr Gerald Na irn attaching a tow line to a bogged Cadil lac, between Rutbah and Ramadi.In pith helmet is Major Bromilow, an English officer in the Iraq Army .

avoided the lava beds and cut the distanceto 650 miles, and finall y we got back to thedirect Damascus-Rutbah-Bagdad route."

"We also ran through to Teheran in Per ­sia ( I ran) . This involved climbing 8000 feetthrough the Asadabad near Hamadan, withsnowdrifts and extreme cold in the winter.On one occasion I got about three-quartersof the wa y up the pass and found the wayblocked by abandoned horse-drawn wagons,which were snowed in . We had no room toturn or back the Cadillac as the snow was sodeep that th e road was simpl y a deep trenchthrough it, so we got out our hydraulic jackand jacked the ca r up . Then we pushed hersideways off the jack, jacked again andpushed sidewa ys and so on until we got herfacing downhill. By this time the snow haddrifted so high that we had to back andcharge const antly to get through it. Un­doubtedly had we stayed there we wouldhave all died ."

"We had numbers of competitors fromtime to time the first two years after westarted . They used cheaper vehicl es andworked on th e principle of lower fares andthere's always the Nairns to pick you up ifwe break down ," said Mr Nairn. "This oftenhappened but sometimes they were all deadby the time we arrived."

lO

"The drivers in the old Cadillac da yswere a great bunch, tough but good . Weall packed a gun in those da ys. There wereNew Zealanders, Aussies, British , Am ericansand Can adi ans. Among the characters wasJohn Reid , with one eye, who , once, in aCadillac chased a cheeta h down and shot it,and of course Ryan , the Aussie, who wasvery fond of the bottl e. Passengers oft encomplained he was drunk but I could nevercatch him or find liquor in the car. FinallyI discovered his chargals (water bottl es ) fullof arak." (A Lebanese booze made fromgrapes. )

H e had wealthy parents in Australia whowanted him to come hom e but he refusedand eventually drank himself to death inPersia ."

The drivers fed their passengers and wash­ed, maintained and serviced their own ca rs.Oil was changed every round trip. Theirpay was £ 60-70 a month. Sometimes a ca rwould get sho t up and to get dri vers to go outand bring it in, we would have to dig th emout of hotels or br othels. So we gave thema house to live in and a girl each. Then theystarted fighting am ong themselves," lau ghedMr Nairn .

When asked by Ray Swingler whetherRolls-Royce cars had been considered for therun Mr Nairn replied :

"We chose Cadillacs because they 'ha deverything' for our work-the utmost inruggedn ess and depend ability, a simpl e de­sign easily maintained together with comfortand speed. T ogether with the backing ofGeneral M otors this made th em a propositionthat had every other car completely licked ,including a Ro lls. The R .A.F . had someRolls armoured cars at H abbinya. They ha da fine record , but they rea lly weren 't sp rungfor the desert and they requi red specialistattention. T hree Rolls-Royces th at were im­ported to Beirut after the wa r by an armyofficer were never got going again after thelocal mechan ics had finished with them andwere shipped back to England. Nor wouldthe 16-cylinder Cadillacs have been any useto us eith er. Simila rly the Lancia was a finejob but too delicate for us."

"Any good mechanic cou ld keep a CadillacV8 on the roa d and they would cover anannual mileage of 70,000 before valve gr ind­ing was req uired, and when we finally soldthem they had clocked abo ut 200,000 mileseach with only two major over hauls. Ofthis, 150,000 to 160,000 had been on theDamascus-Bagdad ru n. In 1925, becauseof the increasing tr affic, we imp ort ed someSafeways from th e D .S.A. These were bigsix-wheel tru cks with a 150 h.p . Continentalengine. Some of th e Ca dillacs were thensold and others kept for special work . Thelast we sold in th e ea rly ' thirties, and it wasstill in good going order then."

"T hose Cadillacs of N ewrnan 's and oursmet the grea test test of serviceability ever im­posed on motor ca rs, and th ey were success­ful. We had occas iona l troubl e of course, aswith an ything man mad e, but they had no

real weakn ess, and th eir reliability was quiteextraordinary. They were magnificent."

"After the Safe ways ca me the A.C.F .'s(American Ca r and Fou nd ry ) . Then thebig M arrnon-H erringtons from Indian apolis,and in 1937 th e Pullmans built specially forus by Budd, with Cummins diesel engin es­th e first air -conditioned buses in the world ."

"But it was the Cadillacs that 'made' us.They were the toughest cars I have ever seen,and for overland conditions they were, with­out qu estion, the finest car in the world."

M rs Nairn, who so kindly supplied photo­graphs for this ar ticle, was eq ually absorbingas she described the regio n. Syria, wherecivilisations began, abounds in ru ins and issteeped in history. Bagdad was form erly thecentre of the Ara b world and seat of theCa liphs, and ancient Damascus is the world 'soldest inhabited city-it had been there for1300 years when the alleged founding ofRome took place. An impressive sett ing fullyworthy of the grea t motoring achievementwhic h took place there.

1 ,_~ L...r: ,.:-- rr> cJ~ r":». -----...I .f... ./-- \ -,r : //)- /-~C: _ ( r'{ . J

~C (.-.~L--t

( ( ..r ~~~' o,, c l \.L, 11

(. ' .

"--. ( ~. ! \ ~~-'---( ",-;.'

\<~~~ J

DAMASCUS -- BAG DAD r

aforementioned sha des accompa nied theparty on the trek down the M ain SouthRoad , we can safely assume th at as well asbeing pleasantl y amazed at the absence ofthe dust and shingle wh ich characterised thishigh way in the days of yore, th ey also mar­velled at the performan ce of the old ma chin es,which, resplend ent in gleaming enamel an dglittering platin g, ate up the miles as zest­fully as they had don e fort y and more yearsago-a tribute to the care an d affection lav-

Vintage and Veteran Motorcycle NotesColourful Cavalcade.-If th e sha des of

long-depar ted motorcyclists happened to behovering in the vicinity of Oxford Terraceon the morn ing of Sa tur day, O ctober 10,they witnessed a sight which probably madeth em yearn for a bri ef retu rn to th is mortalcoil to exper ience again for a fleetin g momentthe joys of their form er existence. It was th edeparture of a cavalcade of veteran and vin­tage motorcycles for Ashburton on th e occa­sion of the Ninth Annual Rally, and if the

by G eoff

Hocklcy

11

ished upon them by their present owne rs, anda heartening sight to lovers of the qu ali tymachinery of the past.

Rally Reflecti ons.r-Tt's encouraging tonote th at th e ranks of V & V moto rcycleowners a re steadily growi ng , ten int erestin gand beautifully-prepared machines, cove ringa period from 1908 to 1925, being on display- a pleasin g contrast to th e rallies of not soman y yea rs ago, when th e motorcycle repre­sentation was confined to one or two lonespec imens. Equally enco uraging was th e in­terest displayed by the spectators, who pliedowners with questions and reminiscen ces. Wehope th at next yea r's event brings forth stillmore machines. Come on, fellows-i-get busyand burn up that midnight oil!

The Vets.v-Veter an machines outnum ber­ed vintage models six beautifully restoredspec imens of the former being on display.Grand-daddy of them all was the spotless1908 Humber, which in view of its age an dthe almos t faultless restorat ion job carriedout on it by owner Des De Thier, fully de­served its first place aw ard. H owever , theRover, Singer, and three Triumphs com pris­ing the bal an ce of the entry were all beyondcriticism, and we frankly didn't envy JudgeT om M cCleary his job of sorting out theplacings. Incid entally, T om-s-seeing th atyou've been in th e motorcycle game since th edays when Fanny was just a girl 's name, howab out joining the gang an d fielding an entryof your own next year? We can always digup another judge at a pinch.

Vintage on Parade.c-i-One "four," tw otwins, and one single comprised the vintagesection, making up in diversity of designswhat it lacked in numbers. The CampbellIndian Scout was spotless as usual, in spiteof th e fa ct th at , far from being kept underwraps and trotted out only on sta te occas ions,it is a fa ithful work-horse in daily use~Sid

has clocked up qu ite a few thousand mileson this 1925 mod el since he first acquired it.M au rie H endry from Blenh eim produced aneye-ca tcher in th e sha pe of his 1924 H ender­son De Luxe, a four-cylind er colossus whosedocile manners conceal a shattering perform­ance . (More of it~and him-c-anon ). Atthe other end of th e scale was R ay Shear­man 's diminutive "2 ~" R aleigh side-va lver.We take off our hat to R ay for the way inwhich he has got this littl e job performing,

12

for even in its youth this model was hardlyren owned for scintillat ing performance. Butwe saw Rayon th e journey back to Christ­church borin g into a howling headwind at astea dy 35 m .p.h and we came to the conclu­sion th at this lad knows his stuff. Fin ally, weblushingly report th at we mad e our debut asa " rallyist" on our 1920 Harley, which seem­ed to rej oice in being given its he ad after somany years on th e retired list~in fact , itbroke into a gallop down the Che rtseystra ight, and is at present champing on th ebit waitin g for the next club event. W e havepromised it a sprint at th e Duvau chell e rally,and can only hope th at it~or its ow ner-s­doesn't strain a fetlock or get th e staggers inthe meantime.

V. & V. PERSONALITIESGenia l Ivan Happer is perhap s best

known to th e fraternity as the owner of theveteran Vin dec whi ch has chuffed so docileyaround the scenes of sever al past rall ies. Thisun iqu e old-timer never fails to att ract a tten­tion. Iva n tells us th at he has it on goodautho rity that this machine was on displ ayat the Christch urch Exhibition of 1906, andwas purchased from th ere by its originalowne r. The H apper stable contains at leasttwo more interestin g veterans-s-a Zenith ofabout 1910 vintage equipped with the once­famous Gradua gear, which consists of anexpanding belt pulley on th e engine shaftand a rear wheel which moves in a fore-and­aft direction for belt tensioning purposes,both these opera tions being effected sim ul­taneously by a lever on the tank known tothe SPC'Tty lads of by-gone days as th e" Coffee-grinder." Another interesting speci­men owned by Iva n is a 191 2 Indian singlewith the rearward-sloping cylinde r whichcharacterised all "one-lunger" Redskins forman y a yea r. Both these rare spec ime ns,alas, still await the hand of th e restorer , and ,like man y more of us, Ivan finds th at tim e, asone v\T. Shakespeare once rem arked, " is th eessence of the contract." Those of us whohave called in at his busy Dunsandel prem­ises must have wondered how he has man­aged to achieve so mu ch as he has done in theV & V hobby, and here's hoping th at th eHapper zeal never flags!

Random Recollections.~We missed I vanH apper at the Ashburton Sho w-s-someho wth e motocycle side of any rally doesn't seem

qu ite th e same witho ut Ivan and his vener­able Vindec, which is really a unique piece ofmac hinery- bu t pressure of work preventedIvan from being present. Don't let it happenagai n, Iv an! After hearing Sid Campbell'sent husiastic account of the Saturday night" do," we ra ther wished we had been able tostay on for it. But careful , Sid !-"Injuns"and "firewater" a re a potent com bination !O n the downward tr ip we travelled for somemiles in com pany with Neil Sutton, and itstruc k us that few if any veteran machineshave such a pleasing and distinctive exha ustnote as a nicely-tuned belt-drive Triumphsuch as Neil's.

Thanks to all th ose wh o have been kindenough to express th eir appro val of the intro­duction of V & V motorcycle notes in themagazine . (T his, of course, has obviouslybeen ment ioned in order to keep up ourstocks with the Editor. ) Having a trip toI nvercargill scheduled in the near future, wehope to bring you, in the next issue, a fewitems of news of the V & V motorcycle hobbyin the Deep South. Until then-saludos,amigos !

Ford Dealerss ince before Model T days.

GORDON HUGHANLTD.

P.O. BOX 48, CARTERTON

PHONE 8099

Sorry, we ca nnot su pply par t s for

a model "N" or "S." 'rVe do have"T" eoils and point s.

And we do provide complete serv icefor all models since 1934.

[ VAUXHALL)PART 1

THE "TYPE Y" VAUXHALL AND ITSDESCENDANTS

Although th e Gri ffin is the most wellknown Vauxhall insignia, the one headingthis article proudly blazed in polished brasson many a rad iator long before th e Griffinwas adop ted by the firm. It is significantthat the patron of th e club-Mr W. J. Scott- who over a period of more th an half a cen­tu ry, has owned man y diverse and int erestingcars, still considers th at "Y2" the "Old Blue"Vau xhall was "T he best car I ever had ." Itis hoped in this series to give a brief outlineof th e story th at lies behind this.

In June 1908 th e R. A.C. organised a2,200 mile reliabilit y trial- run concurrentlywith the S.A.e . Scottish tri al. It was astrictly tr ade event , for manufacturers and

13

by J ack N ewelI

dealers only, to demo nstra te the reliability oftouring ca rs. T he tri al was divided intoeleven classes, by R. A.C. horsepower ra tings.The classification for th e S.A.C . was basedon a different system, hence many cars rat edin different classes in th e two tri als. "TheBig Event" lastin g fifteen days, drew only 46sta rte rs represent ing 26 firms, of which tencars failed to finish. The route wen t fromLond on to Glasgow ; th en th e S.A.C . sectionof 772 miles on Scottish highland roa ds ; backth rough the Lak e Country, Welsh Bord er,Cotswolds to Brooklands and finally 200miles on the newly opened Brooklands Track.It included twenty-two miles of hill-climbsand eleven timed hills.

Pho to by courtesy Vauxh all Motors Ltd .

"KN," the first of Vauxhall's streamlined cars.

An inn ovation was th at the trial was runon a time-loss system, rather than loss ofpoints. Each road stage had a set tim e andentries were penalised for eith er early or lat earrival , by the minutes involved. On the hill­climbs cars lost as many minutes as the y wereslower th an the fastest of th eir class. Allstops for tyre changes, topping up oil, wat er,etc. and for repai rs were penalised by th eactual time lost on th e roadsid e, and eachgallon of petrol put in the tank added an­other minute to th e score. The idea was tosimplify results for the public and to makethe event more like an actu al race, and forth e final day at Brookl ands cars started intheir respective classes at the int erval of min ­utes by which they were behind the lead er ofth eir section so that th e first over the finishline was the outright winner of that class.Minimum standards were set ( to see th atthe cars were genuine tourers ) , ca rs had toca rry a full complement of passengers andluggage, and all cars over 13 h.p. had to befour seaters.

When Vauxhall Motors decided to entera car in th is tr ial the chief eng ineer, MrH odges (a man of conservative views ) wasabsent on holid ay in Egypt, and it was leftto th e 26-year-old assistant engineer, MrLaurence H. Pomeroy to prepare a car. Hisidea of preparation was to design and con-

14

struct betw een February (when the regula­tions for th e trial were issued ) and]une, anentirely new, inn ocent-l ooking sidevalve,monobl oc engine of 90mm x 120mm. Thisgave th e surp rising output of 38 b.h.p. at2,500 r.p.m. from a capac ity of only threelitr es, and represented a 75 per cent step-upin output on th e previous mod el. This speedand power was obtained by a combinationof efficient gas flow, high compression, light­ness of valve gear, pistons and conn ectingrods-the whole made a practical propositionby the strength of all parts and by pressurefed lubrication of a crankshaft design ed towithstand high stresses. Carefully chosengea r ratios took the best advantage of all thispower. Two cars were prepared-"Y 1"took part in the trial, and "Y2" (which waslat er sent to W. B. Scott & Co ., of Christ­church, N .Z., and is now owned by Newelland Jelf s) was held in reserve.

The trial was rather strenuous both forca rs and crews-the route was severe, th eslightest routine attention to a car was penal­ised and th e ca rs th at "got by" with littlemaintenance still had to contend with theroad schedul e, the need for speed in the hills,and have a reasonable petrol consumption .apart from the final test of sustained speedat Brookl ands. In addition , during the fif­teen days involved there were five days of

either rain , hail or mist and some bitterlycold weather, and most ca rs had neitherwindscreens nor hoods. T hus, not only didthe trial sor t out th e genuine all-round tour­ing ca rs, but also was qu ite an endurancetest for the crews.

After the first three days the 20 h.p . Vaux­hall was already attract ing attention and thenext day, with th e first of the hill-climbs itreally began to show its paces, when it wasonly six seconds slower th an the high pow­ered car th at made fastest time of the day.By the sixth day "Y1" held undi sputed leadin Class E and had the previous day won agold medal for first in Class D in the S.A.e.T rial. Wh en the final summing up was mad eat th e end of the 2,200 Mi le Trial the all­round excellence of the Vauxhall had notonly ga ined for it first place in Class E, butgave it th e best over-all performan ce in thetrial-77 minutes lost, with th e Rolls-Ro yce40/ 50 Silver Ghost a fairl y close second­115 minutes lost. The Vauxhall, driven byMr Percy Kidner , one of the dir ectors of thefirm, held its lead in Class E from the fourthday aga inst fairl y stiff opposition and was theonly car in th e trial that covered the dista ncewithout a single mechan ical adjustment, re­pair or replacement of any kind , had nopun ctur es or tyre stops, and requ ired no re­plenishm ent of oil or wat er, and not once waslonger th an the permitted time needed forsta rting up . The only minutes checkedagai nst th e ca r were for petrol put in thetank- 76 minutes representing the 76 ga l­lons of fuel used on the trial , and for thedifferences in the timed hill-climbs. Theperform an ce of the three litre Vauxhall inthe tr ial is tabl ed below.

Best overall perform an ce regardless of class.Winn er of Class E., R .A.C. T rial. Silver

Medal.Winner of Class D, S.A.C . Trial. Gold

Medal.Best fuel consumption in Class E, aver­

aged 26 m.p.g.Fourth equal in fuel consumption regard­

less of class.' ''' on all five timed hill-climbs in Scotla nd ,

Class E.Average speed at Brooklands 46. 13 m.p .h .The only car in th e trial th at did not have

to replace oil, wa ter, or tyres, or havestops.

15

As ca n be imagi ned the car was the sensa­tion of the tr ial , and overni ght the Vauxha llreputati on soared to new heigh ts.

A month later th e speed at which the newmodel ascended in th e Shelslev W alsh hill­climb was so great th at the offi ~ials asked forthe engine to be dismantled to check thecapacity before awarding M r Kidner th ePresident Silver Cu p for the best formu la per­form an ce. The "Ty pe Y" Va uxhalls wereprototypes for the "A Type" Vauxha ll whichwas first show n at th e 1908 Mo tor Show an dwas in produ ction until 1914.

In 1909 a streamlined three litre, tun ed todevelop 45 b.h.p. and known as "K N" be­cause it was as hot as cayenne pepper, drivenby Mr A. J. Hancock, a works driver, record ­ed 88.62 m.p .h . over a flying half-mil e a tBrooklands. This car set the fashion forsingle-seater streamlined racing cars.

The following year a refined version of thismodel now developin g 60 b.h.p. was the firstthree litre ca r to reach 100 m.p.h. It had th emotor out of " K N" in an even more stream­lined body and the air entry was narrowedto such a point th at th e finned tu bes of theradi ator could only be fitted in by placingthem at right angles to th eir normal posit ion.A similar car in 1912 using one of the 90m mx 118m m Coupe de I' Auto motors ( theslightly redu ced stroke to come within theth ree litre class) in a streamlined chassismade a 50 mile world record at 97.15 m.p.h.,and pushed the flying half-mile up to 101.24m.p.h . for the three litre. It is int eresting tonote that the records established in 1912 byH an cock in this special Coupe de I'AutoVauxhall , for the B.A.R.C. 21 h.p. Ratin gClass still stood at th e end of 1924.

A team of three 20 h.p, Vauxhalls wasentered in th e 1910 Prince Henrv of PrussiaReliabilit y Trial , and from this ~as develop­ed the short chassis "A.ll C T ype PrinceHenry" of 90mm x 1200101, put into produ c­tion in 1912 and abo ut 43 exa mples weresold to the publi c. The next yea r this wasmodified to the four litre " Prince H enrv"9501 01 x 1400101 in a longer chassis (knownas th e " C T ype Prince Henry" ). This modelwas current 1913-14 during which time 132cars were produ ced . The "Prince H enry"Vauxhall was the first produ ction "s portscar" in England and was easily recognisableby its V'ed radiator.

Camera

Ph oto by co urtesy E. Ga tt.

Warner Mauger's very desirabl e 20 h.p. Sunbeam, parti cipating in the Ninth Annu al Rallyof the Canterbury Bran ch.

Ph ot o by co ur tesy V au xhall M ot o rs Ltd .

P rototype Prince Henry on trials in Germa ny. (See article " Vauxhall." )

16

Review

JPhoto by courtesy Vau xhall M otors Ltd .

Side view "YI" Trials Car, outside Brooklands Clubhouse after trial. (See article" Vauxhall" ) .

Ph ot o hy courtesy E . Gau .

The Sutton 1914 Triumph and Campbell 's "blood and thunder" 1925 Indian caughtduring a lull in the proceedings at Canterbury's Veteran Rally.

17

During this period V au xh alls were enteredpri vatel y a nd by wor ks team s in a number ofcontine nta l tri als in Fran ce, Germany, Aus­tria, Switzerland, Sweden and Russia. The19 11 Russian (Cza r's Cup) Trial is used asan exa mple. A single 20 h .p . " Prince H en ry"driven by Mr Kidner was entered (the onlyrepresentati ve of th e British M otor industry )in the 1,300 mi le trial from St . Petersburg( Len ingrad ) to Sebas topol in th e Crimea .Road s varied from "goodish" near M oscowto long sections of sa nd whe re planks wereused for de-ditchin g, th rou gh areas of hardpacked steppes where roa ds were a series ofcar tracks in a collection half a mile wid e,until the road improved toward the finish.Through all this, a pretty strenuous test forany ca r even with the comparatively easystages of 200 miles a day, the Vauxhall arriv­ed without loss of a single point to win itsclass and the event as a whole.

The three litr e design was also used withsome success against the more adve nturousFrench designs in th e Co upe de I'Aut o rac esof 1911-1 2-1 3. However, in most cases theworks-entered teams in continenta l racinghad very little success, and suffered greatlyfrom lack of proper preparation . One of the1912 Coupe de I'Aut o " Prince H en ry's" wassent ou t to Mr Scott in 19 13 an d in this herecorded 97 m .p.h. on the Brighton Beach .

At th e 191 2 M otor Show the " D Type" of25 h.p , 95 mm x 140mm was presen ted andwas in product ion until 1921. F rom 1915­191 9 it was modified for use as an army sta ffca r.

A 50 0 mile world record of 89 .77 m.p.h.was established in 1913 using the new fourlitre "C Type Prince Henry" motor in astreamlined chassis during a single-handedatte mpt by A. J. H an cock (the VauxhallKing ) to create a new twelve-hour recordwhi ch unf ortunat elv had to be called offafter nine hours following the breakage of afront spring bracket.

This yea r also one of these new motorsbored out and with a lengthened stroke98 mm x 150mm was fitted into a lightened"A T ype" chassis to th e orde r of Mr J osephHi gginson-built in a space of six weeksespec ially for the Shelsley W alsh hill-climb ;whi ch record it redu ced to 55.2 secondscarrying dri ver and three passengers. This

18

was the prototype for the fam ous "E T ype"30/98 which went int o production in 191 9,and was current until 1922. A simila r proto­type was lapped at Brooklands later in 191 3at 108.0 3 m .p .h ., and one of them was alsosent to W. B. Scott & Co. of Chr istchur ch,but was returne d because it was so noisy an dnot really suita ble for th e customer in ques­tion who later receive d a six-cylinder "BT ype" V au xhall. The 30 /98 V au xhall wasone of the first produ ction cars guaranteed bythe makers to lap Brooklands at 100 m.p.h .

Vauxha lls of th is basic "Type Y" designand its derivati ves continua lly att rac ted pub­lic at tention in a series of gre at competitionsuccesses, and between 1909 and 191 3, 17class records, and 18 world 's records weremade. At the same tim e overseas in NewZeal and, Australia and South Africa, Vaux­halls were very mu ch to the fore in hill-climbsand trials. Undoubtedly th e most famousdescendants were, the "Prince H enry" andthe 30 /98, but as can be seen the earli ermodels deserve similar recognition in th eanna ls of motoring, and it is with some pridethat we claim owners hip of " Y2" whi ch con­tinued to uphold this traditi on in New Zea­land, of which more la ter.

Special ackno wledgement to Mr L. Porn­eroy J nr . for providing much of this mat erialand for checking the manuscript.

Photo by co urtesy Vauxh all M ot o rs Ltd.

Front view of " Y2" tak en before the ca r leftEngland.

Wai kato Notes by Barbara Baigent

Chairman : E. H. Brown.

M ost exciting news in V. and V. circles inthe North Island-and in the whole of NewZealand for that matter-is the WaikatoClub's decision to go ahead with a NationalR ally at M orrinsville next Eas ter.

This prom ises to become New Zealand'sannual "Brighton Weekend " and for someexcellentreasons.

First is the success of the weekend rallyheld by the Club last year at Morrinsville.The competitors had such a good time theyare all going back aga in-plus their friendswho have put cars togeth er in the meantime-and plus a large North Island entry andas many as can "make it" from th e South.

The latter entries, faced with Cook Straitexpenditure have one big comfort- thanksto the energies of the M orrinsville Ch amberof Commerce and other supporters every carcrossing the Straits will have finan cial assist­an ce.

In addition, after moving heaven andearth, the Waikato Club has at last broken

Veteran and Vintage Car Club (Waikato)

Secretary: L. Death, r.o. Box 924, Hamilton.

the ice in the sponsorship field. The Stand­ard Va cuum Oil Company is providing freepetrol and top up Mobiloil for every com­petitor.

We hope they KNOW about VeteranCars! !

This sponsorship by Vacuum-who arealso providing checkpoints and staff-is oneof the most heartening things that has hap­pened in the motor sport game for a longtime. The don ation has spurred the club tomake this the "Best Ever" Rally-not thatthe band of workers needs an y spurri ng on­but it's grand to have substantial backing.

Working on the principle that the entrants,besides having fun themselves, provide a lotfor oth er people , accommoda tion cha rges willbe kept to a minimum through subsidy bythe organisers. The Morrinsville Chamberof Commerce, a ball of fire all of its own, isholding that side of affairs and has bookedout the town .

SKODA OctaviaEight Outstanding Features. Eight Reasons Why theOCTAVIA Is Continuously Gaining Popularity

If a car is considered to be a good companion, th e OCTAVIA ca n beca lled the motorist's best fri end .1. Being of outstanding elegance, it can beat any competit ion in an y

"Concou rs d'Elegance."2. Its high performance and flashing acc elera t ion predestine its vic­

tory in road trials.3. Its high operating economy gi ves the highest value for your money .4. Its perfect stability spells safety-safety all the wa y through,

from the steering wheel and all-steel bod y down to the high effici­ency brakes.

5. It affords the comfort of a big de luxe car.6. Its suspens ion can cope with an y t errain.7. Precision cr aft smans hi p ensur es a long SErvice life.8. All the abundant accessories are standard fittin gs included in the

purchase price. Perfect aftersales service.

P.O. Box 446

SOLE SOUTH ISLAND DISTRIBUTORS:

K. A. SORRELL LTD"167 St. Asaph Street. Christchurch

Telephone 75-197

]9

Book Reviews"CHAMPION YEAR"

Your scribe has never been a very ferventfollower of modern motor racin g and hasthus picked up his few titbits of knowledgeof the subj ect from chance or idle perus ingof the popular press and sections of the mot­oring press that he reads in search of furtherknowledge of real motor cars-Vin tage ones!This has left but a hazy picture in his mindof the personalities behind the sport and oftheir cars, though it has in no wise temperedhis natural inclination towards violent likesand dislikes, amongst which has been a petphobia about Mike Hawthorn. However, onbeing given a proof copy of his autobio­graphical story "Champion Year" dealingwith the 1958 racing season, he has foundmuch food for thought and for reappraisal ofideas .

The manuscript was given to the publish­ers only three days before Hawthorne met hisdeath on the Guildford bye-pass in his 3.4J aguar and has probably got more of thecharacter of the writer in it than might havecome through had he lived to revise here,and rewrite there at leisure. The result isa very readable and rather charming story.

Here is the spirit of the 1920's, almost ofthe "Bentley boys," a naiv e schoolboyish en­thusiasm for the struggle for the world cham­pionship which he achieved, yet all with theschoolboyish (and therefore natural and un­objectionable ) pride in his achievements.His very real affecti on for and reliance on histeam mate, the more level headed seriousPeter Collins gives the book a depth andmeaning that it would otherwise lack, and inthe lacking become a rather tedious repeti­tion of the boasts and chit- chat that is thesame at Riems or Goodwood, Ardmore orTeretonga. As stated, however, it does riseabove this pitfall and presents a natural, ab­sorbing and most readable story of 1958 ; therows in the F.I.A., the fuel regulations, thetroubles with Ferrari half shafts, victory anddefeat, and all too often sudden death;through all this is carried the impressions thatit is all just a "piece of duff " which as statedabove gives a very 1920 's ring to the tale .

For the Vintage man the following quotegives the author's attitude to real motoring."But much as I admire Count Florio, I do

20

not care for his circuit ; I can raise no en­thusiasm for rushing up and down mountainswith hairpins all over the place and sheerdrops on one side,"-and there are some veryscathing remarks about shingle roads.

Whilst the author does not like our kindof motoring and whilst descriptions of hisown kind raised no hoots of enthusiasm fromyour scribe either, the book is excellent for itsown sake and is an extremely readable docu­ment of modern motor racing.

"Champion Year" by Mike Hawthorne.Published by William Kimber, London. Ourcopy from Technical Book and MagazineCo., 295-29 9 Swanston Street, Melbourne,Australia. Price 26 /-, postage 11 6.

"WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP"From the well known pen of Gregor Grant

comes this history of the present day ra cingdrivers supreme laureate. Inaugurated in1950 , in which year Giuseppe Farina wonthe title, it can scarcely be considered a longestablished institution and the first eight yearsdescribed are therefore formative and full ofinterest. Historically therefore this book isexcellent and timely, giving the variations torules ; the episodes and race results that affec­ted the rules and conduct of the champion­ship as an institution.

As one who is not even familiar with thenames, dates and events recorded and towhom all modern racin g cars look the same,your reviewer can give no idea as to the his­torical accuracy of the facts marshalledwithin its pages , but can assure read ers thatif Gregor Grant can 't get the facts straight,then no one can! The book has many excel­lent illustrations and is complete with an ex­cellent tablulated results sheet at the endgiving place-getters in every Grand Epreuve1950 -1958.

In conclusion it is sac! that there shouldnow be so many events in the world that"immortality" has to be apportioned on a"points gained" basis and th at the accentshould thereby bc concentra ted on mathe­matics rather th an on the events and incid­ents of the race itself. A reflection one sup­poses, of the "age of the common man" inth at all circuits are so alike, all cars so alikeand all races so alike that the mathematician

must be called in to separate sheep from th egoats. We can' t help wondering wha t Boil­lot, Costa ntini or even T azio him self wouldhave to say about it!

They and we, can only be supremelygrateful th at such a book as th is ensures th atthe incidents and persona lities do not die butare reca pt ure d in such a way as will ensurethat they outlive th e mathem atical results.

"World Championship" by Gregor Grant.Published by Autosport Lon don. O ur copyfrom T echnical Book and M agazine Co .,295-299 Swa nston Street, Melbourn e, Aus­trali a . Pri ce 31 / 9, postage 1/ 6.

"FOR PRACTICE ONLY"is a very light an d airy coverage by tex t andcamera of th e period leading up to th e sta rtof any big tim e mot or rac e. The ph oto-

Canterbu ry Notes

graphs by Klemantaski are taken from a widerange of events and cover every phase of anevent from the arriva l of the transport ers atthe venue to the drop of the flag.

They ca pture th e spirit ext remely well andthe commentary by Michael Fostick is incomplete accord with the tone set by th eillustrations. This is an ideal Christm as giftfor the youn g enthusiastic son or nephew s, orfailin g these, yourself !

We agr ee with the author when he says," . .. but for interest take th e practice everytime ; and if you have time not just the offi­cial pr acti ce but th e days before." This littl ebook gives the whole spirit of th e show.

"For Pr actice Only," Kl emantaski an dFostick. Publishers, The Bodley H ead . Ourcopy from T echni cal Book and Magazine Co .as before. Price 201-, postage 1/6 .

by J.S.P.P.

Vintage Car Clubs of N.Z. (I nc. ) Canterbury Branch

Chairman : J. S. P. Palmer. Hon Secre tary: R. J . Cummins, 23 Rand olph Str eet, Christchurch.

All in all the branch has had quite a busytime since th e beginning of its finan cial yea r.

July: The Annual General Meeting dr ew avery good muster, and the following wereelected officers for the coming year 1959-60 :

Ch airm an, J. S. P. Palm er ; Club Captain,H. G. Wear; Secretary-T reasure r, R. J.Cumm ins; Co mmittee, W. R. Clapha m, R.S. Turnbull , W. J. M auger ; Delegat e toV .C.C .N.Z., D . K ay.

The me et ing confirmed the club's act ionin negotiat ing for club rooms, at a site in asuburb of Christchurch, for £ 1250. Withalmost £900 in hand it was considered a rea­sonable and wise move, as most memb ers areconvinced th at club-rooms would benefit theclub immensely. At th e 1958 Annua l Gen­eral M eet ing members voted un animouslyfor a levy to be placed on all memb ers to helppay for th e rooms, and wh en received in full,this will go a long way for paying for thenecessary alterations.

August : At last the br anch was inco rporat­ed as a club. Consider ing th at it has takenapproximately two years to inco rporate ou rbranch, from the time we have been a separ­ate identity from the Nationa l body, onemight wonde r th at we are tak ing to heart themotto of the club " Make haste slowly."

21

This month was not ed also for th e form alsigning of a cheque for deposit on our clubrooms. We hope, by th e tim e that this issueof Beaded Wh eels is published, th at we willhave actua l possession of them.

S ept ember: This month passed fa irlyquietly, although several outings and tri alswere run with enjoyment to all parti cipan ts.

O ctober: Our annua l highlight .. .theannua l rally for vintage and veteran vehicles.This year held at Ashburton, it differed fromour past annua l rall ies in two maj or respects :holding the event so early in the season; andhaving it so fa r fro m Chris tchurc h. For theben efit of strangers to our fair city of Ch rist­churc h, Ashbur ton is about 55 miles south ,connected by a good flat high way. This jo ur­ney was no wor ry to an y of th e cars or motorcycles th at travelled un der their own power(only about four were trailered ) and with afew exceptio ns, all clocked in within th e pr e­scribed time.

Aft er a break for lun ch , and a period soth e judging of th e conco urs could be sta rted,the main afternoon's progr amme began witha grand parade. The tests whi ch were vari edand interestin g for drivers and the 4000spec ta tors alike took over th ree hours to com­plete.

It is obvious that the sta nd ard of turn outof the vehicles is becoming very high indeed;the vintage ca r section has some very fineturned out cars which are a vast improve­ment from a couple of years ago. Membersimproving the standard of their mac hinesdoes, I am sure, encourage the member whohas yet to restore his vehicle completely, toget cracking and improve it.

That night 150 memb ers and friends en­joyed a very happy social and dan ce, whichended on a merry note a t an early hour ofth e following morn ing. Next morning about15 cars headed towards Ch ristchurch, stop­ping off at a pleasant litt le village for a picniclun ch, and a na tte r about the week-end'souting .

From the comments of those memb ers whotook part, whether entran t or organiser, theweek-end was a huge success.

Major placings for the event:Veteran Motor Cycles: De Thier, Hum­

ber 1; Collins, Triu mph , 2; Gardner, Rover,3. Veteran Cars with 1 or 2 Cylinders: Bow­man, Ca dillac, 1; M ehrtens, Reo, 2; Shad ­bolt , Northern, 3. Veteran Cars with 4 ormore Cylinders : Baker, Ca lthorpe, 1; Baker,Humber, 2 ; Palmer, Unic, 3. Vintage Cars:Chick, T albot, 1; Owen, Fiat , Kay, Hupmo­bile and Williamson, Bentle y, 2 equal. Vin­tage Motor Cycles: Ca mpbell, Indian, 1 ;H ockley, H arl ey, 2.

Those 30 or so memb ers who attended theRak aia Traction Engine and Farm Machin­ery Rally (o ur club receives £ 50 for our turn

Southland NotesThe Vintage Car Club of

Chairman: W. Brown.

O bitu ary:On the 3 1st of O ctober the Southland V in­

tage Ca r Club memb ers received the sadden­ing news that J ack Lyons, one of the founda­tion memb ers, had passed away in a Dunedinhospital. J ack had been fighting an illnessfor some time , yet never lost his spir it andenthusiasm. In betw een trips to hospital heactively partook in vintage car restoration andnumerous rallies. An outstanding exa mpleof his enthusiasm and determination was dur­ing the Invercargill-Riverton Rally last Feb­ruary. Dri ving the beautifully restored 1911Ford J ack left Riverton at 11.12 a.m. bu t a

out ! !) were treate d to a day's fun . Oldtractors and farm mach iner y might seem tosome people a long way from th e idea ls of avintage ca r enthusiast, but it would be a hardheaded fan atic who could not be impressedby the ingenuity and solid construction ofsome of th ese contraptions and of cou rsethose huge traction engines.

O ctober, 1959, will, I think, go downas one of the best financial months that weare likely to have, with approxima tely £ 150from th e Ashburton Rally, and £50 fromRakaia . But with a total expenditure ofsomething like £2000, including alterations,etc ., for ou r new club rooms it is very neces­sary that we raise our income to meet th esecosts.

Ph oto by co urt esy E. Ga tt .

"Made it!" Otago entrant Frank Bert enshaw mak­ing the 1900 Wolseley move during the "I ndian­

apolis Sprint," a t the Cant erbury Rally.

by D. McIvor

N.Z. (Inc.) Southland Branch.Secretary: J. R. Lindsay, 32 FiIluel St., In vercar gill .

short time later near Wri ght's Bush th e dri ve­shaft shea red off. R efusing to be towed anddetermined to effect repairs he rememberedabout an old "T " lying behind a hedge inthe city. H e managed a swift ride into town,bought the Ford for £5, stripped th e dri ve­shaft, a further swift ride back to Wri ght' sBush, assembled the broken down Ford andset out for In vercargill, only to be faced withfurther trouble a t Walla cetown . Aft er Iu r­ther ingenious rep airs he made In vercargill at2.50 p.m.; a very creditable performan ce.Such was J ack Lyons, th e true enth usiast,whose knowledge of old cars was such a

22

wond erful help in th e early days of th e club .J ack has taken part in a number of Northernevents, but he will be remembered by most asa yearly competitor in the Dunedin-BrightonRun, staged in Dunedin every January. Inthis event he has competed in th e big four­cylinde r 1910 De Dion and the 19 10 Rolls­Royce owned by Mr M cEwan .

J ack started in th e motor tr ad e, as thefirst auto-electrical apprentice in I nvercar­gill, being employed by Ross Mitchell, wherehe stayed some 13 years before going to P.Vickery's ga rage for a short time. Leavin gthere he moved to Qu eenstown where, fornearly seven years, he was in charge of theMount Cook T ourist Co.'s garage. Fr omQueenstown he ca me back to In vercargill,where 13 years ago he commenced businessas an auto-electri cian .

J ack is survived by his wife and two sons,all of whom ar e interested in th e vintage carsand are keen to keep the high qu ality ofworkm anship up to th e sta ndard set by J ack.N otes:

Russell McIvor's Model T 1924 runab outhas a genuine American overh ead valve con­version head now fitted and along with thisgoes an American Bosch H .T . ign ition systemand an external oil return system. Real fun!

Jack Barnes and his two sons are busy re­storing a 1922 Pu egeot . At the moment theyare rebuilding the body.

Warren Jordan, a new member has a T .A.model M .G. as his everyday car and has justrestored and competed in a recent run in a1922 Bull-n ose Morris Cow lev three-seater.

The bug for veteran and ' vintage motorcycles just seems to be catching on up North.It has been prevalent here for a number ofyea rs and it doesn 't appear to be dying out,jud ging by the number of bikes being restor­ed . Re cent acquisitions are as follows : ColinRobertson has acquired a very early modelDouglas (automatic inlet valves) and a 1926HarIey Davidson and sidecar. Neil M cMil­lan has obta ined a " tac kha mmer" or roundtank model B.S.A. and a Vee twin B.S.A. andside car. Norman H ayes has had the engineof his old Indian "Ace" running after an ex­tensive overha ul. It won' t be long before thismotorcycle is on the road .

On the 26th Sep tember six cars and twomotorcycles left Invercargill for the Alexan­dr a Blossom Festival. The cars and motor­cycles participated in a par ade. The Alex-

23

andra vehicles from th at distri ct were a 1908(approx. ) Argyll truck, a 1910 Darracqwhich had been a service car and the DaveMills Britton of 1910 .

On the evenin g of the 31st O ctober anight trial of 43 miles was held from In ver­cargill a round the back roa ds to TussockCreek where a dan ce and present ati on washeld. At this fun ction two min utes' silencewas observed for the la te Jack Lyons, pro­ceedings then being resumed in th e usualmanner. Ray Lindsay received a set of ash­trays for his win in th e Otautau run andAlwyn McK enzie likewise for his win in thenight trial.

On Sa turday , 3 1st O ctober, a combinedVin tage and Veteran timed run was heldfrom Invercargill to Otautau a distan ce ofsome 30 miles. This ru n terminated a t KenM cK enzie's propert y at Rin gway Rid geswhere tests were held, R ay Lindsay and his19 16 Fo rd achieving the best times in th edrivi ng test. Alec Casey's Armstrong Sidd­ley won the slow ra ce. The return journeywas uneventful except for \V. J ord an 's M orrisCowley, which, lacking engine oil mad e somevery expensive noises. The outright winn erwas Ray Lindsay with the 1916 Ford .

Vintage. Veteran35 mm. Colour Slides

ROLLS ROYCE 1910 ISOTTA FR ASCHI NI 1908BENTLEY 4.5 LITRE RACl~GPEUGEO T 1903 MER C BENZ 1904 RACI NGOVERLAND 1912 CARFORD T 1913 DEL AGE COU PE DE L'A UTOBUGAT TI 35C RACIN G, 1911WH ITE 1909 SS K 38/250 MER C. BENZLOZIER 1909 PRINCE HEI':RY VAUXH ALL

MANY MORE .... 32/- DOZ., 3 / . EACH

O LD CARS THE W ORLD OVER With 336 pages. ove rll ~ phot os. N ew Zealand, with a c haptl'r- o f 22 pa ges byAn d rew Au derso n ~gUl'cs p rom inentl y, whi le many in terest­Ing finds In Australi a and Asia arc also listed . I ndcxed , lis to f cl ubs, full da ta, ,~ tc.. Th e most l' n/'~yable vinta ge andve te ra n book Sinc e Bright Wheels Ro lin g; " 36/. posted

VETERANS OF THE ROA D S tor y of th e V .C .C., with~.lVer 100 photos. T ext oy Elizabeth Naglc . 240 pages,Ind exed , e tc . • • - - • - - 23/b posted

RI=<:T01HT10!'1 OF VINTAG~ AND THOR OUGH­RRED CA R ~. M ost co mpre he nsive ever . Act ua l photos.full dat a an d details of a ll aspect s. H ints, e tc. • 37/.

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LISTS FREE. HU NDREDS MO RE.PA YM ENT: I n case of d ifficu lty , if you ca n no t ob ta in a

d raft , or ~I.O . , please write me.

JACK KENOHANBonnie View Road

Mount Dandenong. VictoriaAustralia

Hawkes Bay Breaks Its Si lence Ken Rieper

Chairman: O. A'deane. Secretary: Mrs O. L. Kilbey, 4 Chilton Road, Napier.

Not mu ch has been heard so far from this an experimental picnic at Brookfield Bridgeeastern corner of the club , but we have not about half-w ay between Napier and Hast-been at all idle in our short term of exist- ings. The experiment went wrong as weence. The very fact that it was the H.B. couldn't control the weather and althoughCentennial year that sparked the interest after about a dozen cars arrived in medium finethe Napier celebrations for us to form a weather, we had no sooner had lunch whenbranch caused the branch to be very much "Clancey lowered the boom!" and we had ain demand all over the province for the vari- terrifi c downpour which lasted the rest of theous Centennial celebrations. Being so young afternoon and, caught none too well prepar-in the ranks of the club, there are not many ed, we had a taste of what I imagine the runveterans restored yet, although there is quite to Irishman's Creek might be like. However,a crop maturing with a car blossomin g forth it was a start and some of the cars had metevery now and th en. W e now hav e thirty- each oth er and sized each other up for futurethree members with a few more cars than reference. Then came at one day's notice amembers. We can call on model s from 1898 request for a parade for "Round the Worldto 1931 and have even had the good fortune in 80 Days." Only four ca rs could make theto have been donated a 1922 Silver Ghost. gr ade for that and we had our first taste ofWith the various functions in which we have local Traffic Dept. disapproval. Howeverassisted in this year we have gained a lot of they allowed us to carry on under a wary eyeexperience and by the time that most of the and, having discovered that we are not aheaps of rusting machinery gathered from far bunch of Teddy boys it looks as though weand wide, are fit to be seen we should be able will now be tolerated or even welcomed,to give a creditable performance at home and especially as the Automobile Associati on inabroad. Two cars have already distinguished this area wholeheartedly supports us.themsel ves abroad. Norm Findlay's 1925 On Queen 's Birthday a very happy outingMorris Cowley fourth in the Auckland- was held in reasonably fine weather. TheRotorua run and the Kilbey's Chrysler 77 day began with cars assemblin g on the sea-first in the hill climb down South. front in Napier at 10 a.m. and moving off at

Our first few get-togethers were of a rather two-minute intervals on a Time Trial endingformal nature while we felt our way in at Eskdale Park on the Esk River, a run ofmoulding the branch together. Having done about fifteen miles. Norm Findlay collaredthat, we held our first Noggin and Natter in that without the loss of a single point. A fullone of our members' boat house "Tin Taber- day's interesting programme then followed,nacle" at the boat harbour, Scapa Flow . with a plug-changing trial, egg and spoonQuite a memorable occasion with some mem- race, blindfold-test (with navigators wavingbers getting lost trying to find the rendezvous arms round and expecting blind drivers to( rather like a mystery run ) and then the F. & follow them. Over-enthusiastic navigatorsC. supper caught fire in the gas oven and was were even seen to grab the wheel. ) Thisjumped upon in true Rugby style to extin- picnic was our first real meet and was alto-guish the flames. The discussions must have gether successful.been interesting as no one seemed to notice Then came th e gift of the Silver Gh ost-that some of the chips needed a little restora- out of the blue Mr Dan Greenwood gave ustion, Since then we have graduated to a the family pride of the past, and now thesemi-permanent room which is a good deal pride of H.B. Branch. Norm Findlay pro-larger and is well suit ed to the showing of vided the drive, and the gang-well, a fewfilms or a lecture. The evenings are well of them-got together and attacked the quar-attended and so far we have shown films at century old paint almost to the point of dyna-two of them and a victim of the London- miting some of it, and then, with some gener-Brighton gave us a very interesting chat at ous assistance from local tradesfolk, the dentsanother. were obliterated, chasms bulldozed in and a

\Ve started our motoring activities with very fine coat of paint applied, and-hey,24

presto !- we're proud of our Rolls. Somerather dispar aging remarks by visiting oldtime rs ca used me to take another look at myArgyll-it didn't look so good after all. Nowit has been to the beauty parlour and canshow its face in society. There's still a goodbit to be done where the eye cannot seethough.

A cute littl e exa mple of the ingenuity ofour forefathers has tu rned up here in theform of a 1912 Wolseley 12 h.p . which hadbeen cut down to a tractor. A pity it can'tbe left like it is, but onc ca nnot have it acar and a tractor at th e same time. CharlieBlack mad e an epic trip from Opononi toNapi er in a 1923 M odel T which looked atth e time as if O po himself had been using it.Now it looks just like H enry mea nt it to. IanHunter of Porongahau has almost got hisSunbeam back on the road after recondition­ing the motor. Keith Robinson drove hisnewly acquired very nice 1924 Buick fromGisborne to Napier ; Cyri l Ginde rs has al­most finished his Mo del T half-t on tru ck ;Colbourne Wright is plugging along with th eVulcan which from all accounts will be amasterpi ece as also will be Norm Findlay's20 h.p. W olseley.

We come now to th e first parade whichas a branch of the club we assisted . This wasT arad ale's Centennial. Fine weather fav­oured us and after the par ade we put on agymkana, eleven club cars taking part. Sev­eral outside cars took part in the parade.

Wellington Notes

Next on 12th September was th e annua lHastings Blossom Festival. All club cars tak­ing part were now looking just the goodsespecially in comparison with outsider's bitu­mastic Fords, etc. Eig ht or nine ca rs tookpart in this very impressive parad e scatte redhere and there between the floral floats andthey were all well applauded by a crowd ofmany thousands. That parad e is tough onboth car and driver though, as it took overtwo hours to travel five miles.

September 19th was Waip awa's Centen­nial celebrations with eight of our cars inattendance, and lastly the H .B. A. & P. Cen­tennial Show where all ma kes still manufac­tured were displayed on the appropriatefran chise holders' own sta nds with th e mod­ern counterpa rt, and also took part in theGrand Par ad e. The Gr ande Fina le to theparad e was provided by th e club putting ona fashion parad e 1898 to 1931 using theunique set of costumes kindly loan ed to us bythe Southland Bran ch. T his really wentover.

H aving completed this busy year the H.B.gang is now settling dow n to perfectin g wha tthey have done or starting wha t they havenot done an d planning a few quiet activit iesof our own to keep us out of mischief.

By th e way, our scribe, Miss J acquelineHolt , is now on her way to J ap an-perhapsshe may find some of the veterans that beatthe Bay of Plenty boys to the scrap boats.

by Warwick Johnston

Vintage Car Club of N.Z. In c. (Wellington Branch ).Chairman : W. j ohnston, Secretary: Miss P. Aitken, 26 Ganges Rd ., Kh andaIlah, Wellington.

T his year we held our annual U pper Hutt stage our driving tests as a sta r-turn of theirRally on Sa turda y, 14th Nov ember, and, the Ca rnival.Weather man being kind to us again , it was This proved to be a very happy arrange-dul y pronounced a resounding success. ment and we ca n consider ourse lves instru-

Keepin g in mind th e tenor of thoughts ment al in drawing a good man y of thewhich prompted the or igina tors of this run 10,000 people who saw us when the cars didwe started in Lower Hutt this year and fin- two circuits of the parade ring before goingished at Tren th am Me morial Park. The day over to the special area set aside for the dri v-we had decided upon for th e rally happened ing tests.to coincide with th e day the Upper Hutt T he 28 cars which faced th e sta rter atY.M .C.A. had picked on to hold a Carniva l Steven's Motors at Lower Hutt were th eto raise fun ds for a bu ilding project. They grea test number yet seen in Wellin gton an dasked if we could put on a turnout for them they mad e a really impressive line-up. Itand on advising them of our existing inten- was the first time we had seen many of th etions to go to Upper Hutt they readily agre ed cars here in Wellington and these were theto allow us to termi nate our time trial and 1914 M orris Oxford and 1929 Star of Les

25

Jones of Masterton : 1918 Buick of AlanDouglas also of Masterton; 1927 Sunbeam,Malcolm Dickens from Marton; 1924 30 /98Vauxhall, Brian Wy cherley of PalmerstonNorth; 1925 Lanchester, Jock Clouston ofTurakina; and the 1916 Overland of TomGlasgow also of Turakina. Three local carswere m aking their Wellington rally debuts,too-1928 Austin 7 of Don Perry; the 1923Standard of ]. Ellworthy, and the secretarial1931 Model AA Ford. Pam and HelenAitken justly deserve full marks for the fineway this sturdy performer is turned out.

The others to make up the tally were whatone might call regulars and have all been seenin more than one rally. Four of the cars andHugh Webley's 1914 B.S.A. motorcycle andsidecar combination took part in a paradein the morning as well-in James Smith'sXmas Parade which made it a fairly full dayfor thos e members.

No major misfortunes overtook any of therally cars during the day, but Rex and MrsPorter were unlucky enough to be involved ina collision on the Hutt Road during the earlyevening but thankfully suffered nothing worsethan a severe shaking.

Some minor traps were built into the TimeTrial and these were successful in catchingsome of the fish they were set for-in fa ctthe first check point saw only eight of the 28,while subsequent che cks reported that noteveryone was able to read the printed instruc­tions particularly when the routes for theveteran and vintage entrants were differentover one part of the course. Bert T onks wasnoticed retracing his steps to ca tch up on onecheck point he had passed non-stop.

The public paid close attention to the per­formance of th e cars during the dri ving testsand enj oyed to the full the potato racewhich was run off in heats of three cars ata time.

As a variation of the wooden-spoon prizewe this year decided that a prize should beawarded to the member who had overcomesome particular obstacle. For this occasiona set of cuff-links was given to ]. Ellworthywho early in the week had found himselfminus a vernier coupling for his magneto andhad fashioned one out of a piece of three­ply and pieces of wooden meat skewer.

Other pri ze winners who received theirtrophies at the evening get-together at South­ward Engineering's Social H all were as Iol-

26

lows: Veteran , Andrew Smith Trophy foraggre gate points, Les J ones, 1914 MorrisOxford; Concourse d'Elegance, Les Jones,1914 Morris Oxford; Driving Tests, TimeTrial, Len Southward, 1908 Holsman . Vin­ta ge, Aggregate points, Jock Clouston, 1925Lancester ; Concourse d'Elegance, AlfKnight, 1926 Ford T ; Driving Tests, KenWright, 1923 Alvis ; Time Trial,]. Ellworthy,1923 Standard.

The Veteran and Vintage aggregate win­ners received sets of appropriately decoratedbeer-mugs as prizes while all other prizewinners received pairs of vice-grips.

A new section of the notes which we hopewill become a regular feature is this timecontributed by "Bac kshedmari" :

Chas. Maxwell has started on th e "Doc­tor's Coupe" bod y on his 1913 Austin, andin the meantime has located a smaller 10 h .p ,model in much the same condition as theoriginal one. It has no lamps, so watch yourBleriots, boys, this man collects th em.

They say the secretarial "Model A" andthe Perry Austin 7 are both worth secondlooks. It's always good to see the later vin­tage models as good as these.

The Elw orthy Standard of 1923 is motor­ing onc e again, and seems a good contenderfor Burma in J anuary.

The Southward Maudslay is in variousstages of painting, cleaning and general lyingaround th e workshop. I hear this one is ahopeful Morrinsville rallyist.

Ivan Benge, too, has his Overland at thefinished chassis and motor stage. Com e on.Ivan, you don't want to be too old to driveit !

We hear the Darracq of Warwick John­ston has had the du st brushed off and workhas begun on th is rather nice four-seater.

Our "Sunbeam Basher," Frank Unsworth,was married off recently, and instead of theusual "Detroit Barges," the bridal party usedtwo extra good Ford T 's, and of coursehoneymooned in the Sunbeam.

Ivor Harvey's Newton Bennett is slowlyrising out of a pile of parts on the floor. Thisshould be an interesting machine when com­pleted.

We hear that branch secretaries are beingsent a sample of our lapel badges which willbe available to all members at 6/- each, soall interested, get those orders in quick as theymay be a couple of months arriving.

General NotesIt is heartening to hear that the Waikato

Veteran and Vintage Car Club are well onthe way to preparing a first class event forall veteran and vintage owners at their rally-Morrinsville, Easter 1960. All Branchsecretaries have by now received entry formsand should you wish to participate we urgeyou to contact your Branch secretary prompt­ly. For further details, see Waikato Notes.

We hear that member George Gilltrap,now residing on the Gold Coast, Queensland,has re-opened his Museum. Apparently,from reports received, this was quite a fabu­lous event.

NATIONAL ALVIS DAYby R. Stevenson

What is probably the largest gathering inBritain devoted to one make of car is Nation­al Alvis Day, organised by the Alvis Owners'Club in conjunction with the 12/50 Register.The A.O.C. is open to all Alvis owners butthe Register covers only the vintage years1920-32, the latter year being one when amajor change in design took place. Indeed,such was excellence and stability of Alvis de­sign, these cars are among the few able toextend the vintage classification by a year ortwo.

This the fourth annual Alvis Day in suc­cession , was held on Sunday, May 24th, atCrystal Palace in perfect weather reminiscentof a New Zealand February with tempera­tures up in the eighties. As one approachedthe Crystal Palace circuit the concentrationof Alvis cars on the road became greater andgreater and once inside the gate one behelda truly magnificent collection of red triangle­bearing vehicles, arranged in orderly rowsand in chronological order of models. Thewonderfully preserved condition of these carswas matched by a beautiful colour printedprogramme on art paper which contained abrief history of Alvis and a collection of someforty photographs of the choicest examples ofthe various models.

The morning was devoted to a Concoursd'Elegance, and such was the elegance to beseen that the judges' task must have beenextremely difficult. Among the 12/50's wasthe oldest Alvis in existence, a 1920 10/30now owned by Alvis Co . Its two seater and

27

dickey body is beautifully restored but un­fortunately it stands on 20-inch Sankeys. Thered Alvis triangle was up the other way inthose days and sprouted a pair of Austin-likewings. The engine is a fixed head side valvewith eight valve caps, but the remainder obvi­ously foreshadows 12/50 construction, exceptof course, there are no f.w.b, Perhaps inmore original trim and certainly so with its760 x 90 wheels, was a 1922 11/40, thesports version of the 10/30 and the oldestAlvis in private hands. Other 12/50's wereuniformly excellent and together with thelarge number of others parked elsewhere bynon-competitors, showed the popularity ofthis solid and simple model with however areasonable performance.

Highlight of the vintage models presentwas a 1928 six cylinder 14-75 which hadbeen meticulously restored after lying 22years unused. Owned by N. H. Johnson,secretary of the Register, this car later wonthe concours for the Vintage section, a justreward for the detailed plating and polishingthat had been done both above and belowthe chassis. The body by Cross and Ellis issleek and handsome with a very curved tourerback, while the engine immediately remindsone of a Sunbeam with neat block and finnedexhaust manifold through which passes theintake from an updraft Solex.

Several 16.9 Silver Eagles were present,their immediate ancestor being the 14/75,and at least one was seen with original look­ing brass radiator and of course the verynecessary three carbs. A 1929 1482cc frontwhe el drive model had promised to attendand we were disappointed to hear that it hadbroken down on the way. One could nothelp feeling that history was being repeated,technical innovation being insufficient tosave this interesting but most unfortunatemodel, examples of which are extremely raretoday.

The later models on view were of coursep.v.t but it seems that with Alvis, vintagehonesty lingered longest into the 1930's. Itwas very noticeable that the Speed 20's com­bined craftsman coachwork with a neatengine compartme nt in front of a cast alum­inium bulkhead. But it was the degeneration

Vintage Car Club of N.Z. Inc. (Bay of Plenty Branch ).Secretary: R . Brickell, Mt. Maunganui School, Mt. Maunganui.Ch airman: A. James.

of the latter into a pressed tin affair thatmarked the later Speed 25's and immediatelythe vintage-m an 's interest falt ered. Howeverth e fact that abo ut 290 Alvises did turn upand could be inspected at leisure gave an un­par alleled opportunity to study the cha ngesin design that occurred over the years. Othermodels seen included 4.3's, Crested Eagles,Silver Crests and th e post-war TA 14, TA21and TC21/ 100. U ndeniably mouth-water­ing were a pair of the lat est TD21 's, a saloonand a dr oph ead , driven by employees ofAlvis Co. who had both been with the firmfor 36 years.

Next on th e programme was a processionof cars in a Cavalcade of Alvis history.Starting with th e 1920 10 /30, a chatty com­mentator described each model which wasthen required to do a circuit and stop whileits successors caught up. Very interestingthis, but one felt sorry for the ea rly driversas they sat near the head of an ever-growingque ue baking in the fierce sun. When thelast TD21 had been driv en around, all madeanother circuit in convoy, a most impressivebit of history on wheels. In th e back ofM. W . B. M ay's Speed 20 engined Silver

Bay Banter

Eagle which once lapped Brooklands at113.7 m.p.h., one was pleased to see th e figu reof Mr W. Boddy, the well-known editor ofMotor Sport . The cavalcade was followedby some driving tests, a timed section produc­ing many examples of take- off wheel spin, azig-zag in reverse showed the advan tag es ofvintage man oeuvrab ility and visab ility, anda garaging test some hila rious erro rs of judg­ment. The well-known S. C. H. Davis intro­du ced severa l personal ities over the micro­ph one, including G. P. H. de Freville whodesigned the first Alvis ca r, lat er sold to T. G.John and Co.; W. Bodd y : M . W. B. M ay;D. Mi chie, Serv ice M an ager of Alvis ; andC. G. H . Dunham, one time successful racerof a Speed 20 and a 12/7 0 at Brooklands.

A trip through the car-pa rk near the endof the da y discovered a cha in-gang Fraser­Nash, a well preserved " top hat" AustinSeven saloon, an impeccable 2 litre Lagondawith a row of T ecalemit nipples nea r th erunning board to provide for centra lisedchassis greasing, an ea rly vint age Dclage on880 x 120's, a two-seater Lea-Francis, a nearvintage HiIlman tourer and a water-cooledJA.P. engined M organ .

by Robbie B.

A "T" COMES TO LIGHTWell, it was a quiet evening in M arch,

1958, just after the Rotoru a Rally, when Iwas seized with an overwhelming attac k ofth e "bug." I sq uirmed uneasily in my seatfor a while recalling all my childhood mem­ories and associations of existing model "T's" ,I could stand it no more, and grabbing thephone, wasted a rapid 12/ 6d on fru itless tollcalls. In despe ration 1 tried T ony J am eswhom I knew to be a V.V.C. C. member. Idied . H e knew of a "T" and wha t's mo re,one 1 had seen years ago in T auranga andremembered for its remark able condition.Tomorrow we would see it ! No sleep allnight produced a nervous shell-shocked indi­vidual on Tony's doorstep next day. He tookme to the spot in his " Royal Daimler" (veryfitting for the occasion), where I was soonconfronted by an old Scot , Mr Scott, by acoinc idence. He fumbl ed with the sacreddoor handle, 1 looking in palid anticipa tion

28

over his shoulde r. As the door creaked open,my heart-b eat nearly killed me. There in thecob-webby, da rk interior stood a sight onchocks that I hadn't seen for years. An old1924 "T" converted to a ligh t truck. I pou r­ed all over it, returning to sanity with th eperpetu al drone of T ony's disparaging re­marks (designed for the owner's ben efit ).Well, we bargained for a while , I holding outfor £ 20 , the owner for £ 30. Tony split thedifferen ce and 1, with dr amatic reluctance,agree d . (Had th e owner known, he couldhave mad e a fortune out of me. ) H owever,my first disappointment was th at I couldn' ttak e it hom e th en an d there. Another floor­walking night was in store for me, but I oc­cupied the time in swatt ing the manual , par­ticularly th e " How to Dri ve It" section.

Next day my frantically pedalling legsbecam e ablur as the y propelled an unwillingbike to the scene again. I dul y arrived andbegan pumping up the ra ther perished 30 x

31'2 beaded edge tyres and actually enjoyedthe job , then took her carefully off the blocks( the first time in 41'2 years ) . By this timeT ony had arrived for the tow. M eantimethe now sentimenta l sole own er (whowouldn 't be? ) began to find bits and pieces- old seats, valve caps, tools, etc ., from every­where . What a heart-throbbing sight as sheemerged on the end of a rope into th e sun­shine once more (me steering ) . Once on theroa d, we made for the nearest ga rage wh ereI tota lly alarmed a lack-a-d aisical mechani cint o act ion . At last serviced, and with Tony'sbrother at my side reading driving instruc­tions, I let off the hand brake-cum-clutch.For miles we followed Tony's jeep with theengine running but not apparently turning.After some miles I decided to try a new sparkand th rottle position and as I did so I nea rlywrecked all my hopes by cha rging into the

What it was?

SOLUTION TO SEPTEMBER QU IZ

The ca r illustrated in September issuebrought forth only one correct answer ; thankyou, Mr J ack Lucas, of 'Wellington, for yourlett er. The illustr ation was th at of the 1923record -breaking Jewett, which piloted byMessrs Phil Seabrook and W. Sinton, Auck­land, mad e the 500 mile trip from Au cklandto Wellington in 14 hours 58 minutes-April6th , 1923. Unfortunately space does notpermit the printing of this story, but we hope,in the near future to present this eventful runas a major a rticle. The specifications of thecar are as follows :

Six-cyl. L-head type, one block with de­tachable head . Bore, 5 in Stroke. 50b.h .p. Heavy drop-forged crankshaft, heat­treated and ground ; main bearing 2is indiameter. Cooling, forced by centrifugalpump ; capacity of system 4 gallons. Remysta rting motor with Bendix driv e. Remygenerator gea r dr iven from crankshaft.Lubricat ion , gear pump forces oil und er50 Ib pressure through hollow crankshaft tolong main bearings, connec ting rod , bigend bearings and timing gears. Cylind erwalls lubricated by splash.

Price when new approx. £450.29

pulling jeep. (W e apparently had th e throttleand spa rk mixed and had been operatingthem back-to -Iront. ] The engine had beenrunning without enough th rottle and whengiven some, cha rged forward. In a sweat yordeal I man aged to save the car from dam­age and signal T an y th rough the smoke tostop . I was soon unhitched and with acheeky toot on the now wor king horn (lovelysound ) I was able to purr home (at a good40 m.p.h . I was told lat er ) on my own power.After a ph oto session she was given the ga r­age where the restora tion then took place(and still is ) . Finding a suita ble touringbod y being my present nightmare-a year offailur es in sea rching so far having been mylot. But clues ar e still keepin g me busy and"OLD H ENRY" still does a club run when­ever the " Boys" come over our way .

What is it?

The lat est ca r quiz for Beaded Wheels

Read ers. See if you ca n identify the ca r inth is photo and post your guess to the Edito r,20 Hackth orn e Road , Christchurc h. Thenam es of the knowled geable together withother interesting deta ils of the mac hine willappea r in the next issue.

As mu ch deta il as possible please !

Restoration TechniqueContinuing our series to aid those beginning the length y task of restoration .

BIG ENDS. It m ay be possible to get mod­ern steel-ba cked thin bearing shells of correc tsize to fit the shaft journal. Then it is onlynecessary to turn out th e inn er diameter ofth e origina l heavy br ass-backed liners to suitth e new shells. (For insta nce, Hillman mainscan be used for Fiat 509 big ends) . Ch eckthe shaft for out-of-round, .003in is consid­ered the practical limit and any more calls forre-grinding.

BUSHES. Early bushes were often of verythick section and can be expensive to replace.A round of the ga rages will often une artha new bush of thin section which will fit thesha ft. The origin al is then bored out on th elathe and th e new bush pressed in (use twoside by side if required to get the length ).Another way is to line the worn bush withbearing whit e-met al applied with a solderingiron while th e bush is kept hot over a sma llflame. Finish to size by machining on thelathe.

PLUG GAP. With magneto ignition, thespark plug gap should not exceed .018in to.020in . With battery and coil, th e gap canbe .030in. M ag. breaker gap should not beexcessive, and is usually ab out .025in.

OIL SEALS. Modern "Neoprene" oil sealsare excellent articles, readil y obta inable in agreat ran ge of sizes. They should be fittedwherever possible on th e engine and transmis­sion where th e oil has been leaking ou t pastth e original "slinger" or felt-w asher.

SPRING LEAVES. A spring leaf ca n bere-shaped without using heat, and the curveincreased or lessened simply by placing it onan an vil of some sort and striking repeatedlywith a small ball-peene hammer while stress­ing the leaf to the shape required. The ham­mer blows MUST BE ON THE SIDETHAT THE M ETAL IS TO BE EX­PANDED, and should be spaced close to­gether and evenly over the whole surface.H ook one end of the leaf und er something,use the anvil as a fulcrum , and press downhard on the free end. Use the hammer overa small ar ea above the anvil, and then movealong to th e adjacent area. Check repeated­ly against other leaves or to a line marked on

30

the floor. An old spring that has sagged withage can be revived by treatin g each leaf thisway. Each shorter leaf sho uld be given alittle more curve than th e next longer one sothat when th ey are all placed in position withthe ends contacting there is ;lain to y! in gapbetw een each at the centre bolt hole. Threada rod thr ough the holes, clamp in the viceand fit the centre-bolt.SPRING SHACKLES. To avoid expenseand time in rebushing a lot of worn spring­hangers, try trueing up the old ones if not toobad , and fit larger diameter H.T. steel bolts.If the heads ar e brazed into one side theymay be better than th e original. Copperwater pipe will make quite good bushes forthese parts which do not warrant the expen­diture of elabora te workmanship .GEAR TEETH. Chipped or worn gearteeth in the diff. or gearbox can be a costlyitem to replace. A good repair is possible forvery small cost. The job is not difficult butneeds care and patience. Gr ind all chippedor cracked teeth down to firm parent metalusing a small power driven hand gri nder.Have a large basin of cold wat er on thebench . Appl y "Eutectic 185" paste flux toth e dam aged surface of one tooth, use a verylarge oxyacetylene flam e, do not pre-heat thegear but attack the one tooth directly and assoon as the flux fuses apply " Eutectic 185"low temperature work-hardenin g nickel­bronze rod. Work quickl y and imm ediatelyth e bronze has fused on to the steel, dip th ewhole gear into the water. Repeat adnaus eum with each tooth . If done quicklyenou gh the hardenin g on neighb ouring teethwill be retained. The bronzed teeth are th enhand filed to sha pe, using a sharp new fileand keeping it cutting. This bronze " workhardens" and if filed carelessly ma y becomeha rd and difficult to cut. Use it gently forth e first few miles on the road so the teethcan develop th e hard skin which will wear ex­cellently. If the teeth ar e not straight-cutthen there is a problem, but an enginee ringshop may oblige by milling the repairs. An­oth er method that has been successfully usedis to repai r th e teeth with th e elect ric ar cusing stainless steel rod.

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